Tear down that wall

 

Ephesians 2:14    NRSV 

For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 

If only.  If only the dividing wall of hostility would be broken down.  If only we could agree to at least discuss our differences and be willing to listen to one another.  If only . . .   And I’m not even talking about politics. I’m talking about Church!  

Paul was talking about the divisions between the Jews and Gentiles, the continuing arguments over whether Gentiles needed to be circumcised before being baptized and follow the dietary regulations.  Even then there were deep divides within the one Church, which I am sure really frustrated Paul who firmly believed that all of those things were side issues.  He continually wrote encouraging Christians to remember that they were Christians first - not Jew or Greek, man or woman, slave or free, eaters of meat or just vegetables.  He continually wrote that those things were not the important thing - the important thing is Christ, in whose death and resurrection we are all freed from the chains of sin.  

Clearly he was not successful.  There was one holy apostolic Church for a minute, then the splits began.  Christianity is currently divided into three general categories - Orthodox Catholic, Roman Catholic, and Protestant.  As each of these has also split over the centuries, often over something so small that all the others scratch their heads wondering what is the big deal, there are now so many different Christian traditions that no one can come up with an accurate count of them!   The number of total Christians can be figured, but not the number of all the different traditions of Christians.  Even then, quite a few of those different traditions refuse to accept the others as Christian to such an extent that over the last 2,000 years we have tortured and killed each other over our differences, in the name of Christ.

Even when a group of 10 or 12 denominations came together with the stated intention of forming an agreement whereby we can all worship together, our often small seeming differences kept us from coming to an agreement for decades!  

And yet - we all have Christ at the center of our being.  We all worship the same God, serve the same Savior, celebrate the same resurrection.  How is it we find so much to disagree about when the core of our belief is Christ?  As Rodney King famously said, “Why can’t we all just get along?” 

Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, we really should be able to accept one another in your name.  Yet our differences of opinion over ritual and tradition and even which translation of the Gospels we should use keeps us firmly on opposite sides of the fence when there should be no fence at all.  Help us accept each other, Lord. Help us work together in your name to bring the Beloved Community to the earth, as it is in heaven.  Amen